OUTDOOR LIFE

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AMERICAN CHRONICLES about Ed Dyer, who lived in Central Oregon & through good works had become a valued member of the community. He had a job with the U.S. Forest Service at the ranger station in the town of Sisters, working in the nearby Deschutes National Forest. Eventually he and his wife and 4 children lived in the nearby town of Redmond. The family was active in the Mormon church. Ed became Scoutmaster of the church's Boy Scout Troop 26. As a Scoutmaster he was known for organizing & leading week-long backpacking trips that covered 50 miles on the wilderness trails. Years before his own boys were old enough to be Scouts & years after they'd gone on to other things, he remained active in the Scouts. It was not known that Ed was plagued with homosexual pedophilia-he could not control his sexual desire for young boys. One of the scouts in Troop 26 told his parents that Ed made a sexual advance to him. Ed was then asked by the church to resign as a Scoutmaster. The church leadership decided on disfellowship as a disciplinary measure. This is a sort of probation. The church authorities did not inform the civil authorities of the allegations against Ed. Later it was discovered that the incident was part of a pat tern that went back at least 25 years. Finally in late 1984, the church decided to excommunicate him. Two years after he resigned as Scoutmaster there was another incicent with a 15-year old boy, Louis Conner. A member of the church got no action when he reported Ed's problem to the local police so he turned to the State Police who started an investigation. Dyer pleaded guilty & was given a light sentence. Soon afterward he was shot to death by Louis, who in turn received a light sentence.